A snowy day
by Leigh59
Summary: Going home after a meeting with Fornell, Gibbs stops to help a lady in need. Kikicox24 asked for this one.
1. Chapter 1

_Kikicox24 asked me for a story, this is what I came up with, more will be coming in time. I make no money as someone else owns them._

"Jethro thanks for the help and for the final report."

"You would have done the same for me, Tobias."

"You should go; the snow is really coming down fast. Wouldn't want you to get hurt, especially with the way you drive."

"Funny man, saying things like that will not get you invitations to Cowboy Christmas steak dinner."

"Thanks anyway, I'm taking Emily skiing for Christmas someplace in New Hampshire. Come with us, she would love to have her uncle Jethro come."

"Not this time, thanks though, give her my love."

Fornell watches his friend leave the office, the holidays were hard on him. He always invited him, Jethro always said no. He exhaled deeply then looked out the window once more. He was lucky and he knew it, he had his daughter and she was the world to him but his friend, well that was a different matter. If he had a Christmas wish he would wish for his friend to find lasting love and someone to fill his life with joy and laughter once again.

The sun was starting to set and with the snow coming down hard, he knew it was going to be a long ride home. Traffic was always a nightmare in the district, but add snow and nightfall it would be even worse. Thankfully it seemed that most of the office workers had decided to leave early, and it made the ride less congested. He is in no rush so he takes his time; no one is waiting for him at home

What he doesn't expect was to see a big old Cadillac on the side of the road with the trunk up. Seeing a figure leaning in it and pull out a large spare tire only to go back in and pull out an old fashioned jack and lug wrench.

He chuckles softly to himself poor bastard I'm glad it's not me that has to change that tire. No sooner does that thought cross his mind than the person turns he can see it's a woman. No way she is going to change that tire on her own, not on his watch. When he gets closer he pulls up behind the car.

Walking up to the side he can see she has a large flashlight aiming at the tire, she is on her knees putting the jack in the right place with one hand with the other she is holding the lug wrench so tightly her knuckles are turning white.

On her feet, he can see very high heels as she stands. She turns her head and lets out a small yelp. "Damn you scared me agent Gibbs."

He looks at her and glares. "Do I know you?"

She smiles and shakes her head then she puts the lug wrench in the right slot to start to jack up the car. "No, I saw you at Quantico today. I work there, technical analyst for the BAU Penelope Garcia. I would offer to shake hand but mine are all dirty and full of grease."

Gibbs put his hand over hers and takeover. "Just hold the flashlight. Why didn't you call a tow truck?"

"I did,there is a two hour delay because of the storm, the heater in my beast of a car only works when it wants. I thought it would be just quicker if I did it myself."

He liked the reply. It didn't take long for him to change the tire and put everything back in the trunk.

"I can't thank you enough for doing that for me. It was very nice of you to stop and help.

"Not a problem and you're welcome. If you don't mind I'd like to follow you home just in case."

"I'd like that, thanks."

He got out of his car after watching her park her big caddy. "Would you like to come up for some coffee? You can wash the grease off of your hands too."

Never one to turn down coffee he nods his head and follows her into the building. When he sees her take the stairs while carrying the tote and her large purse. He looks at her and frowns. She answers his unasked question. "The elevator doesn't always work besides I sit on my bum all day I need the exercise." He watches her climb enjoying the view, finding nothing wrong with her backside at all.

After using two different keys she pushes the door open the and puts the light on before entering the apartment. She re-locks the door then points the way to the bathroom. "I'll start the coffee."

He came out of the bathroom and finally took in the rest of her small apartment, colorful is what comes to mind. Smelling the coffee he goes to the kitchen.

He has to smile at what he is seeing she is pouring creamer into a cup with only half a cup of coffee. "What?" she asks handing him his cup.

He takes a sip then smiles. "How did you know?" He asks lifting his cup.

"Emily Fornell, her dad asked me to fix her laptop. We got to talking she told me all about her family and about you her Uncle Jethro, who works for NCIS. How he likes his coffee strong, marine strong. I made it the way agent Rossi likes his."

"It's good thanks."

"You're welcome. I don't have a fire place but I do have cast iron pan and a steak. Would you like to stay for dinner? My way of thanking you for changing my tire."

"I don't want to impose."

"You're not imposing I asked you. So is medium rare good with you?"

He watches her open a cabinet by pulling a piece of duct tape then put the tape back after getting the pan out. She looks at him and shrugs her shoulders. "The latch thingy is broken I just haven't replace it."

"Did you buy it yet? "

"I did. I'm planning on doing it tomorrow that and a few other things that need to be fixed. You looked surprised, I live alone and calling a repair man is expensive. A good home repair book and a set of simple tools are cheaper."

Hearing her talk he likes her more and more. It is her touching his arm that brings him out of his musing. "I'm sorry." she says as he takes a step back. "I wanted to know if you would like pan fried potatoes and some string beans too. I like to toss the potatoes into the pan after I cook the steak."

"Sounds good. You don't have to go to all this trouble."

"It's no trouble at all Agent Gibbs. I have to eat too."

"Just Gibbs is fine."

She didn't say anything about his sidearm when he took his coat off. But then, she is surrounded by weapons at the BAU all of the time. Hearing her phone ring she doesn't answer it letting it go to the answering machine, but hearing it at the same time.

"Kitten, did you get home okay, the roads are bad. You need a new car."

"Garcia, I noticed the rear tire it might be leaking air. You should have it repaired before Morgan takes your car to be practiced on by the bomb squad."

She reaches over and turns the volume down. Then sends out a quick text on her cell to everyone on the team.

"My team, they worry about me and they really hate my car."

"It is an old car, you should think about getting a new one. Something safer."

"Not you too." she asks with a smiling sigh.

He found her company enjoyable and somehow, he didn't want the evening to end. When she joined him at the table he noticed that she was noticeable shorter then he looks at her feet and sees pink fluffy slippers.

"You don't have to answer but why do you have two deadbolts on your door and two chain locks on the inside. Is this a bad building?"

"No, in fact it's great building except for the time I was shot; it's nice quiet and very safe."

"Shot?" He asks putting his fork down.

"Long story, besides it happened three, almost four years ago."

"Did they catch the bastard?"

"Yes. In fact JJ, agent Jareau, put a bullet in his head."

"Good."

"As I was saying, the building is safe, it's me. The last man I was seeing, well he got clingy and wouldn't except the fact that I said no. He liked to scare me and it got to be too much."

"Would you like me to talk to him?"

"Thanks but no need Hotch, Morgan, and Rossi put the fear of god into him. From what I hear he barely made it to the restroom."

"What about now; is the new man in your life bothering you too?"

"There is no man, why do you think there is?"

"The razor, I saw it by the tub?"

She can't help but smile hearing that from him. "Fewer nicks with that razor."

After they finish eating he offers to help clean, an offer she declines with a smile. "You should go; the roads are just going to get worse. Unless…" Gibbs gives her a look to encourage her to continue. "Unless you would like to sleep on the couch the storm should pass by morning."

"Shaking his head he grabs his coat then makes his way to the door. "I'll be fine unlike you and your car, my truck has a working heater and good tires."

"Very funny agent Gibbs. Thank you once again for the help."

"Anytime." He replies then pulls the door closed. He stands there for only a minute hearing her re-lock the door with both deadbolts and the chains. Only then did he move.

Twenty minutes later he is pouring coffee in his own home, after taking a good full mouthful he puts his cup down then reaches for his cell.

"Fornell."

"Tobias what can you tell me about Penelope Garcia?"

A smile crosses Fornell's face. Where to start he thinks.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks so much for all of the reviews and alerts._

"Why do you want to know, she's not a redhead."

"I helped her out, she was on the side of the road changing a flat tire. I wasn't going to stop at first but when I saw it was a woman, well you know."

"Yes I know some of us still remember the lessons our parents taught us. Sounds like her, though."

"Well tell me about her." Gibbs orders.

"Agent Penelope Garcia is a technical analyst for the BAU. She's brilliant and dangerous. Before we hired her when she was a hacker, still is in fact, she was given a choice work for us or go to prison. She is on a list only a handful of people can so what she can do with a computer. Like I said dangerous."

Fornell has to smile to himself when he hears Gibbs growl. "I take it that's not what you wanted to know. I'll tell you all I know; I needed some information quickly without going through official channels. I read her file before I went to talk to her, like I said she is brilliant. She went to Caltech at seventeen, full boat ride. Her parents were killed by a drunk driver, the kicker is they were out looking for her, she was out past curfew. Her step brothers disowned her after that; they blamed her for their parents' deaths. As far as I know she hasn't spoken to them since. So at eighteen she was on her own, she dropped out of Caltech and went underground that is were she earned the moniker "The Black Queen".

"How was she caught?"

"From what I gathered she left a trail, electronic breadcrumb so to speak. If you ask her she'll deny it. But we think she wanted to get caught. All I can come up with is that she was tired. She is a nice lady Gibbs, she'll give you the shirt off of her back if you ask for it. She fits in well with the profilers the only thing is she has a really hard time dealing with all of the horrors of the job. Her office looks like a novelty store threw up, a rainbow of colors. It keeps her focused, mentally healthy, Aaron Hotchner has no problems with it at all, and he is the one that arrested her in the first place."

"She told me she was shot a while back, what happened? "

"She got suspended for that. On top of everything else that she does she also counsels a group of people whose family's members were murdered. She flagged some cases without permission, turned out they were all killed by the same person. A cop, angle of death killer is what the BAU called him." It took a while but Fornell told him what happened and how JJ put a bullet in his head as he held a hostage in the BAU's bullpen. It was a great shot, I'll show you the video if you want."

"What about that man she was dating? Is he still bothering her?"

" She told you about that too?"

"I asked her why she had so many locks on her door."

"You know that Penelope is well liked by everyone from the director down the security guard. All of the men make it perfectly to clear to him to stay away from her. He has an ulcer now from what if been told. He works in an other department cyber/geek squad. Anything else you want to know?"

" No, that's enough,thanks. So coffee on Sunday?"

"I'll be there, nine A.M. as usual." Fornell replies then he hears nothing. It takes him a second to realize that he has been hung up on. At least the bastard said thanks this time.

Hearing a knock in her door just after ten in the morning Penelope is surprised, she isn't expecting anyone and she has the weekend off. Out of habit she looks in the peephole before she opens the door. A smile crosses her face seeing who is standing there. "Agent Gibbs may I help you?" she asks then steps to one side letting the man into her home, locking the door before she follows him. She can see that he is holding a small tackle box in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

"I thought you might need a hand with your repairs."

"Oh that's nice of you, you didn't have to. But I am grateful, for the extra set of hands."

After putting his tools down he looks around the apartment before he follows her into the small kitchen. He can see she has her tools case on the table as well as her home repair book. Next to them she has a pile of hardware and a list.

Before he can say anything he sees that she is starting the coffee maker, swallowing the last of his coffee he put the cup in the trash can under the sink.

"Did you buy out the craft store?" he asks pointing to the couch that is covered with scarves, hats and mittens.

"I made them, I have to drop them off at the community center today."

"You made all of them?"

"Yes, it doesn't take long. I can turn out three hats a night sometimes four. Scarves only two as for mittens only one and a half. It keeps my hands busy and in the end I have something to give to the center. What is the old saying 'There but for the grace of G-d, go I.' so I make lots of things during the year then I give them away."

Nodding his head, because he understands completely. "So, show me the list."

Three hours later everything fixed including the light that kept dimming out. They even managed to build her yarn winder for all of the hanks she had bought. She had the wood even the instructions. It was simple enough for Gibbs to do, it was something that he was very comfortable with, working with wood.

He put his empty cup in the sink before he looks at her. "Miss Garcia, do you need any help bringing the things to the center."

"You can call me Penelope, if you like. If you help me bring them to the car that would be great."

"How about we bring them to my truck then we go out to lunch."

"I'd like that very much thanks. I just need to get a couple of boxes to pack the goods up."


	3. Chapter 3

_Sorry for the delay boys and girls._

Tobias smiled, well not really smiled more of a smirk, as he walked into the diner. He acknowledged their regular waitress as he made his way over to were Gibbs was already seated in the booth. Sliding into the booth he didn't have to wait long for the coffee to be brought over to him.

"Do you want your usual Tobias?" She asks with a tone she only uses for her regular customers.

"Yes please that would be great, thanks." Because of the good Italian boy that he is, he always uses his manners with everyone. Everyone that is except for Gibbs, with his friend he found him to be like a member of the family, one that you would die for, but at the same time you want to wring their neck.

He knew better than to talk to the man, at least until he had eaten at least half of his breakfast That meant he had consumed at least three cups of what Gibbs liked to call coffee.

'You're in a good mood. Who'd you slap or shoot? Do you need my help in hiding the body or just paperwork?" Fornell asks chuckling as he reaches for his cup.

"You're not as funny as you think you are, Tobias."

"If you say so. Really what's going on?"

"I spent the better part of yesterday with Penelope."

Fornell coughs spitting out his coffee hearing those words come out of Jethro's mouth.

"Why?"

"You remember me telling you that she invited me to dinner after I changed her tire?"

"Yes."

"I saw her use some tape to keep her cupboard closed, she told me that she was going to fix it. I asked her if she had the part, and she told me she had the part, a tool set and a book on home repairs. I asked why she didn't just ask the building super. She told me that repair men were expensive, that the building super didn't fix things. So I went over with to help I even brought some basic tools with me."

"What did you find, once she let you in?"

"A small pile of hardware, a set of tools, a list and the book open to the right page."

"She fixes all of the computer in the BAU, mine too. I told you she was smart."

"Did you know she knits and gives winter gear to the community center? There must have be close to four hundred pieces sitting on her couch."

"I'm not surprised. She made a hat and scarf for Emily."

Gibbs glared at his friends and waits. Fornell knows that look he has seen it directed to more than one agent and criminal in the past. "Like most of the agents we work with, she has her own baggage. We all deal with our own pain in different ways. You build boats, I spend time with Emily, Penelope; well with all of the horrors that she sees come across her computers she gives of herself to others. Looking for good in people, looking for some peace, according to Hotchner."

"She comes across so determined and strong."

"She is until she isn't. Then she'll sit in her office or her parked car, some place where she feels safe and cries. Better than getting drunk like some of us do."

"I like her Tobias, I'd like to see her again, but I'm so much older than her."

He can't help but smile at his friend. Thinking about the two of them together; it just might work. Penelope had a magic touch with people, with so much love to give. He had strength and needed to be reminded that he needed love too.

"Come by the office tomorrow, make some excuse. I'll bring you down to her office."

"She has an office? I thought she was just a tech."

"Trust me. You think McGee is a geek, you haven't seen anything yet."

"So why do you want me to come?"

"You need a date for the inter-agency Ball for Christmas don't you? You have to go this year. By orders of your Director Sheppard, Penelope doesn't go to the Ball she always finds a way to work so she can get out of going. Except for this year, the order came down if anyone asks her to cover for them between Christmas and New Years. They will be transferred to the archives to assist with the digital transfer of all of the files. Eighty years or so, last I heard the techs are still working in the early Hoover years. The suits want their prized tech in attendance to show off to the other agencies. Just so you know she has the same orders."

Fornell tosses some bills on the table to cover his share as well as the tip. "Don't forget you'll need a tux."

"What makes you think that she will say yes?"

"Trust me."

"I always have in the past, I see no reason not to now."

"Good so say around noon? You're off rotation this week, I'm sure you can find some excuse to come see the enemy."

* * *

"DiNozzo, I'm leaving for a couple of hours personal time, do cold cases, call if there is an emergency."

"Yes Boss."

He walks towards the elevators with all three members of his team watching him.

"Maybe McGee should trace his cell." Ziva says once the doors of the elevator close.

McGee gulps. "I'm not tracking him."

"The man deserves some privacy Ziva, if he wanted us to know what he is doing he would have told us." Tony tells her.

"I don't like secrets between team members."

"His life, his business. Besides he said it was personal time." He reminds her. "Get to work or he'll head slap you when he gets back."

* * *

He didn't bother to knock just walked into the office, after placing a large coffee on Fornell's desk. Picking up a file on the chair in front of the desk he makes himself at home, as he starts to read while he sips his own coffee.

He doesn't have to wait long he was still reading a cold case file when Fornell walked back into the office.

"You see anything in that file I can use?"

"Yes, talk to the brother-in-law. I'd get some dogs up to that cabin. Lots of places to hide things in a remote area like that."

"Thanks for agreeing with me. I asked for a warrant today." Gibbs just nods his head, after long years of working they had a habit of bouncing thought and cases to each other. Even if they made a big deal of not liking each other in front of the respective teams. In reality, it was quite the opposite. They had profound respect for each other and the work they did.

He stood as Fornell picks up a pink laptop carrying case off of the floor. "She knows I'm coming I bought this for Emily, Penelope said she would get it ready for her. Installing all the safety programs that will keep her safe. Plus a few more that Emily won't know about."

Gibbs cocks his head to one side. "She's a geek and a dangerous hacker, she knows how to keep people safe. And just so you know, she only hacked companies that used animals for testing, that's what we were told at least.. That and our friends at Langley really hate her. I can't find out why and no one is willing to talk. But I do know this much, she was offered a sweet deal to work with us or go to prison. So I think she did more than hack to protect animals."

"Ya' Think?"

Gibbs dutifully followed Fornell as they made their way to the offices of the BAU. Stopping in front of an open door Gibbs is shocked to see all of the monitors on the walls as well as the desk. He knew that the office would be colorful so that riot of color from pens and stress toys didn't faze him.

What shocked both men was the state of Penelope, standing there holding on to a large mug of tea for dear life with her eyes closed. Two pens sticking out of the messy bun on top of her head, her feet bare, her skirt looked wrinkled not what they were expecting at all. She looked utterly exhausted. She didn't even bother to look up at them. "If it's not an emergency leave it on the desk I'll get back to you in an hour."

"Garcia?" Fornell calls out to her softly

She opens her eyes and blinks. " Agents Fornell, Gibbs, sorry, I forgot, I've been here since four-thirty got called in very early, or late at night depending on which coast your on."

" Coop and his team?" Fornell asks.

"Who else? They needed some under the wire hacking." She replies then shivers involuntary, thinking about what she had to help with."

Clearing a spot on her desk. "Did you buy the laptop I suggested?"

"I did. I brought Gibbs he was curious what your office looked like, he thought you worked in the Cyber-unit with the rest of the techs."

Shaking her head a small laugh escapes her lips. "They don't like me down there, space is at a premium and as you can see I use a lot of it. Not to mention the computers that I need."

Gibbs looks at the monitors on the wall he can see the feed going by but is having a hard time making sense of any of it.

"You read all this?" Gibbs asks waving at the wall.

"As needed agent Gibbs. News in on one of them the sound is off, the others different searches and things that I'm looking for, one is for well for.. . What exactly is your security clearance anyway?" She asks Gibbs with a very serious expression.

"Good . . ." Gibbs starts to say only to turn as he feels someone come in to the room .

"Kitten, I didn't know you had visitors." Rossi says as he walks further into the room.

"You know Agent Fornell, this is Agent Gibbs from NCIS."

Rossi greets Fornell with a simple nod. "Agent Gibbs nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." He replies as he offers his hand.

" Just doing a little laptop work for Emily Fornell. Is there a problem?"

"No, not at all. I came to tell you that Hotch said to go home. No active cases today you need to eat and sleep Kitten. Coop called they caught the unsub."

"What about ?" She asks leaving the rest in the air.

A single shake of Rossi's head is her answer. "Go home Kitten come in at noon tomorrow, if we need you we'll call."

"Yes sir."

Fornell waits until Rossi leaves before he says anything. "Gibbs and I were going to go to lunch, join us. We aren't going far just to Chinese place we all get take out from."

She looks the two men, she knows they are safe and well armed. She has learned to be extra careful with her safety. "Sure. I'll meet you there. I'll finish Emily's laptop and bring it back to you tomorrow."

"That's fine Penelope her birthday is still a week away."

* * *

Penelope walked into the Pink Jade a favorite of the agents at the Bureau, seeing Gibbs she goes to his table only to see the man stand as she comes closer.

"Fornell got called back. We can cancel if you want?"

"No need, it's lunch time and I'm starved. Unless of course you'd rather not, I can grab a salad at the market and go home."

"Sit down Penelope, I'd like to get to know you better and I have something to ask you."

She smiles sweetly at him as she sits _. Maybe, just maybe, she might just get a date from Leroy Jethro Gibbs. He does have beautiful eyes and a nice booty too._ She thinks as she as she places the napkin on her lap.


	4. Chapter 4

_Not mine as much as I wish they were. This one is a bit longer, hopefully it will keep you all on pins and needles until the next chapter._

She couldn't help but smile as she walked into her lair. She was happy, truly happy for the first time in a very long time. It all had to do with one Leroy Jethro Gibbs. He made her feel special, well that wasn't really the right word. He accepted her just the way is, warts and all. Not that she had warts, the job he understood, he knew just how important it was to her. Just like she understood just how important his job was to him. He just made her feel, well, perfect and beautiful.

She was so surprised when he asked her to go to the Holiday Ball, only the older agents still called it the Christmas Ball as he did. She had been planning to go stag then leave after the first hour. Saying yes to him was not difficult, as she liked the man and was hoping to see more of him.

Not more than a week after he asked her, she found him standing by her car in the FBI parking lot just after two in the morning.

"Agent Gibbs." she greets him in a surprised voice.

"Fornell called me. He said it was a bad case that you might enjoy a meal before you go home, on account you haven't eaten anything but coffee and stale cookies from the vending machine since nine O'clock yesterday morning." He scolds slightly.

"I ate lunch." She tells him with a touch of annoyance in her voice.

"Yeah, what?" He challenges with a knowing smirk on his face.

Coming realizing just how horrible her answer is going to be she whispers. "I had a cup of noodles."

"Right, so food?"

"I was going to stop for some French toast. You didn't have to come all this way."

"I have to eat, I just got off work too."

"In that case, yes let's go."

They didn't talk about the cases, having to work them was bad enough sharing them was worse. In the following days they managed to talk a few times, and even have dinner; it was nice no pressure and comfortable. She was looking forward to spending more time with a certain agent Gibbs, just his smile alone was enough to give her pleasant dreams.

* * *

The team had returned the morning of the Ball, four days away and one sick puppy was now being looked after by the county morgue. Serial killer zero, BAU one. The best part, they were able to save the last two hostages. Hotch stopped them as soon as they had crossed the threshold of the BAU offices "Just get started on your reports finishes them if you can, I want everyone out of here in three hours. Go home nap get ready you are all expected to show up tonight. No excuses, Right Garcia?"

"Yes sir, I'll be there."

She walked back into the bullpen an hour later dressed to leave, her report in her hand. A quick stop to Hotch's office and she was gone without saying anything to anyone. The smile on her face was enough to leave them all wondering what was going on. Something was in the works, but with Penelope Garcia that could be anything.

"JJ came out of her office in time to see her friend leave. Shaking her head slowly she walks over to where the rest of the team is working. "Did she say anything to any of you?"

"Not a word." Spencer answers. "Emily what about you, you went into her office half an hour ago?

"Nothing, she was working on her report and humming."

"She hasn't said anything to me either, come to think about it she hasn't been that talkative about her personal life at all for the past few weeks. She didn't even ask me If I had a date for tonight. I sometimes go stag just like she always does."

"She's up to something." JJ murmurs.

"She knows how much trouble she's going to be in if she doesn't go." Emily adds.

"Oh she'll go, she won't stay. I bet she'll get called away." Morgan guesses.

"No she won't." Rossi says as he joins the group. "The director gave an order to all of the techs. No one is to call her in."

* * *

"Finish your reports and leave." Gibbs orders as he sits down with a fresh cup of coffee.

Director Shepard enters the bullpen stopping in front of Gibbs' desk. "You did order your tux, right? You do know you have to be there tonight. The SECNAV wants his entire MCRT there to show off to the other agencies."

"Yes Director, I know. I ordered my tux I will be there. Was there anything else I can do for you?"

"Do you need a ride? I have room in my car." She has waited all week for him to offer to be her escort. It wasn't difficult for her to find someone but still, it annoyed her; she thought that he would offer to take her.

He shakes his head. "I've got it thanks." They watch the director leave then Gibbs shortly after. "Gibbs is being, not Gibbs, is he not?" Ziva asks them.

"He won't stay. He'll growl, and glare until he is ordered to leave by the SECNAV."

"He won't McDance, he'll be there looking sharp. The Marine in him won't go against orders. Did you a get a limo for Abby or do you want to share mine."

"I forgot. Damn."

"My date will use one of the limos from the Embassy."

" Lucky you Ziva, I'll pick you up at Abby's Tim. Say around five?"

"Thanks, I'll owe you one."

DiNozzo smiles at McGee nodding his head as he grabs his backpack, dropping his report on Gibbs's desk he leaves with a wave.

Seeing Ducky washing his hands at the sink. Gibbs waits until his friend is finished. "Duck, I came to see if you needed a ride tonight?"

"No, we shall be fine, I ordered a limo weeks ago along with some flowers to be delivered to Jordan."

"I'll see you there then."

"Jethro, I'm surprised that you are going to attended."

"Orders Duck." Gibbs replies as he is walking out the door.

Looking at the closed door Ducky shakes his head not believing a word of it.

He had his Charger detailed, he wanted it perfect. When he told her about his car she asked if they could use it on the night of the Ball, she loved old classic cars. The way she smiled as she asked him made his 'yes' answer a given.

* * *

He didn't have to wait long for her to answer the door, stepping back she to let him into her home. She is wearing a robe and he thinks stockings, on her feet her fluffy slippers.

"I need five minutes, I made you a cup of coffee it's on the counter."

He doesn't even get to drink half of the mug before she is back. He has to swallow dryly as he takes her in. She twirls for him so he can see all of her. Her hair in a French twist her make-up understated, her lips painted a deep red. The dress hugged her in all the right places, it's black and strapless with a long sleeved bolero jacket lined with red silk. The slit on the dress ends just passed her left knee on her feet red stilettos, the same shade as the lining on her jacket and her lips. Even her eyes look brighter with just the right amount of color and no glasses.

"Do I look okay? I don't want to embarrass you in front of your friend and bosses." She asks him then bites her lower lip as she waits for his answer.

He wills his body to relax, as all of the blood has gone south making his pants tight.

"You look beautiful Penelope. We should get going."

Reaching for her red clutch on the counter she slips in her cell and key. "I'm ready." She tells him as she grabs her matching coat off of the chair.

Stepping into the large banquet room she sees her team on one side of the room. She can hear a tall woman with a tattoo on her neck calling him over to her table, she is assumes is his team.

Leaning into him. "So where do we sit?" She whispers.

He scans the room then places his hand on her lower back guiding her over to Fornell's table. "Switzerland." He deadpans.

Penelope can't help but laugh. " Hello agent Fornell."

"Penelope, you can call me Tobias you know; now what did I miss about Switzerland?"

She looks at Gibbs before answering. "Your table is Switzerland, the BAU on one side and MCRT on the other."

"Hopefully we came late enough to keep them from coming over until after we eat. Something to drink Penelope?" Gibbs asks her as he lays his hand on her shoulder.

"I'd love a double shot of whiskey, but I'll take some red wine please."

"You can have your whiskey later." he tells her softly before heading for the bar.

"Who is that with Gibbs?" Abby whines.

"No idea, but you have to admit she is quite stunning."

Ziva looks at Penelope once more before returning her attention to her team. "Ducky, really, she looks like a courtesan."

Tony diverts his attention from is date to look at Ziva. "I highly doubt that Gibbs would hire an escort to come to this engagement. I wouldn't say anything to him if I was you. It seems to me that he has excellent tastes, Ducky is right she is stunning."

Not liking the rebuke from Tony of all people she looks at Tim. "McGee use your cell and find out who she is?" Ziva tells him.

"The room has been blocked no access to any internet." McGee replies then reaches for his drink.

Seeing the some of wait staff come into the room carrying trays only to scatter around the room with the salad on the heavily laden trays. Ducky clears his throat. "Jethro is no ones fool, let him be." His tone is harsh making it clear to all of them that he will tolerate no more on this conversation.

"Who is that with Garcia?" JJ asks.

"No idea." Reid answers.

"How do we know he is safe and won't hurt her?" Morgan growls.

Emily shrugs her shoulders. "I think he looks good and he is carrying you can tell, just like all of us."

"All of you calm down. His name is Leroy Jethro Gibbs and he is the lead agent of MCRT, NCIS." Rossi informs them, then he looks at his smiling boss. "You knew, didn't you Aaron?"

Hotch doesn't even react to Rossi, instead he smiles. "I do hope they didn't overcook the Prime Rib."

"I do love his deflection, don't you JJ?"

"Maybe he can give us a refresher class Emily."

"I'd rather just give you cold cases. Morgan leave her be, Gibbs is a good man."

The agents tips their heads slightly, acknowledging they understood. The order-non-order.

The director's table was a different matter, you would think they would be talking shop but in fact they were just enjoying the night without having to worry about one-upmanship.

The conversation at the table was pleasant, even Gibbs added from time to time his laughter could be heard a few times drifting off into the room. The BAU agents couldn't help but see just how comfortable Garcia was with Gibbs, every time he touched her shoulder, or rested his hand on the back of her chair she seemed to lean a bit closer to him. It was a classic move, he was staking his claim and she was signaling that she wasn't opposite to it.

Not long after the meal was over the dance music started. Gibbs stood and offered his hand to her, she places her hand into his allowing herself to be guided to the dance floor. Fornell took advantaged of his date leaving to use the ladies room to go see the NCIS team.

Sitting down next to Ducky, the older man has always been a favorite of Fornell's. "Are you enjoying yourself Dr. Mallard?"

"Indeed Tobias, the food was excellent and the music has been enjoyable. Tell me were is your date?"

"In the ladies room. With your date I imagine."

"Yes, after sitting for so long the need to use the facilities is understandable."

Observing the scowls on both Abby and Ziva's faces. He leans in close to him. "What's wrong with the Ziva and Abby?"

He follows their line of sight to see they are staring a Gibbs and Garcia as they dance.

"They don't like the fact that Jethro and his date elected to sit with you."

"You mean concubine, or is it consort, Ducky."

Fornell couldn't help but laugh loudly at hearing that. " I can guarantee that she is not any of those things, in fact she is a technical analyst for the FBI."

"So, no one of consequence then." Ziva states.

"I wouldn't say that. She is probably one of most dangerous people in this room. Haven't you ever been told not to judge a book by it's cover?"

Seeing his date and Ducky's come back to toward the table, Fornell asks his date to dance with him.

"Knock it off Derek." Emily tells him as she elbows him in the ribs. "Look at her she's happy. For the first time in ages."

"Does he have to hold her so close?"

"You sound like a jealous lover." Reid tells him hiding his smile behind his ginger-ale.

Rossi can't help but chuckle at hearing his younger team members. He waits until the next dance starts then taps Gibbs on the shoulder. "Mind if I cut in?"

Seeing Penelope nod her head slightly he gives his place to Rossi. Only then does go to see Ducky and the rest of his team.

"Gibbs, Gibbs, why didn't you come see us sooner? Did that FBI analyst make stay away? You should be with us, we are your team." Abby tells him pouting the entire time.

"I picked the place to sit Abby. Are you having a good time?"

"It would be better if you were sitting with us instead of the enemy."

"Tobias is my friend Abby, I've know him longer than any of you including, Ducky."

He has to smile as he watches, Penelope is handed off to her boss Aaron Hotchner, he holds her the same way Rossi did; as a sister protected and safe. At least he doesn't have to worry about them. As for Morgan, she told him all about their friendship and how they flirt just on the line of being inappropriate.

He knew that it was expected of him so he located his director and danced with her too. The whole time, evading all of her questions as to who his date is. Privacy is a big thing for him and she knows this.

"Derek." she says softly when she feels his hand on her back.

"Baby-girl, so spill."

"Nothing to spill, he asks I said yes. The rest is private, for now at least."

"If he hurts you..."

"I'm a big girl Morgan, and he really is a nice guy." He brings her back to the table were Gibbs is sipping some coffee.

"Gibbs." Morgan all but growls as he moves the chair for Penelope to sit.

Gibbs all but glares in return as he watches Penelope smile then pat Morgan's forearm. "Thanks for the dance Derek."

"Anytime Baby-girl." he tells her kissing her forehead before he leaves.

"Can you smell it?" Fornell's date asks.

"What?" Tobias asks.

"Never mind." she answers with a giggle as she see a perceptive look Penelope's eyes.

Seeing Gibbs take Penelope's hand in his pulling her to her feet without even asking he holds her closer than ever as he dances with her.

She finds herself laying her head on his shoulder smiling to herself. Tobias's date is right the testosterone is thick in the air.

The time seemed to fly by just after midnight she asked him if they could leave.

"Of course Penelope let me say good night to my team you do the same to yours." He watches her walk away admiring the way she looks in the dress.

"You look happy Boss." DiNozzo say softly as he walks up behind him. "A beautiful woman is the best excuse to let your guard down. I'm glad she makes you smile, Jethro."

He tried to growl or even retort but he knew it would come out sounding weak. "We're leaving I need to say good -bye to the rest of the team.

Neither had much difficulty saying good-night to their friends a few well chosen words were enough to silence most protests.

* * *

"Will you stay long enough for a nightcap or coffee?" She asks as he pulls into the guest parking spot.

"Nightcap would be good."

She knows him well enough to hand him her key then wait until he puts the lights on before she goes inside her apartment.

Her shoes and coat are the first to go, then the bolero jacket comes next tossed on the couch. Reaching for the bottle of Scotch she pours a healthy shot into two glasses.

She watches as Gibbs drinks half of his sip before she drinks all of her in one go.

"So tell me Jethro, how do you like your eggs?" She asks as she steps into his personal space, unzipping her dress letting it pool at their feet.


	5. Chapter 5

He hadn't slept that soundly in a very long time. Waking up, it took a minute to remember where he was. Not feeling his bed-mate next to him, he got up reaching for his pants that were hastily shed the night before.

Slipping them on he goes to the small bathroom, he releases a small satisfying sigh after his bladder is no longer screaming at him. Turning to wash his hands he has to laugh seeing that she has put a new razor and toothbrush out for him.

He watches as she sways her hips to the music softly playing as she poured some coffee in to a cup for him. Barefooted and wearing only a FBI tee shirt that has her name on the back, he can see just hint of some lacy panties. Her hair piled into a messy bun on top of her head, she never looked sexier. He wanted nothing more than to take her back to bed.

She turns slowly then hands him the cup of coffee as she coyly smiles at him. "So, eggs?"

Taking the coffee he puts it down then pulls her in to his arms. "I'd rather take you back to bed." He tells her then kisses her lips moving to her ear then neck.

"Before or after we eat?"

He nuzzles into her neck then whispers. "Both."

"My kind of man." she answers her breath on hot on his face.

They never made it back to the kitchen for breakfast. Laying naked and entwined neither spoke, just enjoying being there together. She was just dozing back off when she was startled awake by a loud rumble. "What was _that_?!"

At her reaction he had to laugh, "That? Oh, well that was your stomach yelling at me because I didn't let you eat breakfast or lunch."

She purrs as she nuzzles into his neck. "Then I guess we should eat something."

"We'll send out for take out, later." He whispers as his hands start to roam once again.

* * *

He walked into the bullpen carrying a cup of coffee without saying anything to anyone he had to move Abby from his desk before he could even sit himself.

"Gibbs I came to see you yesterday and you weren't home. I couldn't find you.""

"I know, I was out."

"But what if there was a case or if I needed you?" She whines.

He takes a long sip of coffee gathering his thoughts before he says anything . "Abby you're an adult not a child. I do have a life outside of NCIS." He stands reaches into his pocket then hands her a plastic evidence bag with a broken piece of black plastic. You can just make out the skulls and bats in the white ink. "Tag my car again with a tracker, I'll have you transferred to Seattle, understand?"

She shakes her head then stamps her foot. "But you need to be safe, we need to protect you."

"Abby I carry two weapons and my knife. I have all the protection I need, The little GPS you put n my cell has been removed too. Nice try though. Abby get to work, McGee, David cold cases. DiNozzo with me." He orders before he starts for MTAC.

Grabbing his cup of tea Tony is two steps behind as they enter MTAC. While they wait for the other end of the connection to come on-line Tony turns slightly in the seat. "How did you know about the tracker?"

"Penelope, she has a program in her cell. She told me I was bugged. She got rid of the one in my cell too, that she always runs her program when she is in a different location. Then she laughed at my choice of cells. I told her that I didn't want a smart phone. that I might have to anyway my cells are getting harder to find. She tapped on her cell for a couple of minutes then told me that a gross of my preferred cells should be arriving in a month, billed to NCIS. She is smarter than McGee according to Fornell."

"You've always trusted Fornell and he is honest to core. I believe him."

Gibbs glares at Tony. "What did you find out?"

A chuckle is the first thing that Tony does then he sips some of his tea. "Fornell is right, smarter than McGee would be putting it mildly. When dealing with Penelope Garcia it is best not to be in the same room especially if you need something that can't be found through normal channels. Plausible deniability is what I heard from more than one person. And before you ask I'll always have your six. I imagine she will too from now on."

* * *

Dressed in her usual rainbows of colors she looked none the worse for wear after spending most of the day before in bed. In fact you could say she was glowing, she looked beautiful. She didn't stop just waved as she strolled by the agents getting coffee in the kitchenette. The women just softly laughed and smiled, they knew they would be getting the dirt when they had lunch.

It was the men that had the best reaction. Reid just shrugged his shoulders, Hotch smiled, Morgan growled, leaving Rossi to laugh. "What did you expect Derek? She is a beautiful desirable woman, you had your chance. But if he hurts her, I'll kill him simple as that."

"He won't hurt her, poach her maybe. As long as she's happy that's all I care about. Gibbs has a reputation of being a bastard but a good agent. Fornell told me not to worry that she couldn't be in safer hands."

"From the way she is smiling. I bet she knows all about his hands." Emily proclaims with a laugh then walks away as Derek swears.

"I don't think Penelope would be so rash as to have sex with him."

Rossi drapes an arm around Reid's shoulder. "Oh my young friend we need to take you out more."


	6. Chapter 6

Try as they might Penelope wouldn't say, she wouldn't talk about anything having to do with Gibbs. She did her work, flirted and was happy. The one thing the team did notice was she didn't stick around to go out for drinks as much as she did before.

Christmas came went as did New Years eve it wasn't in the cards they had a case smack in the middle of the two holidays. They made it back New Years day in time for football and eating lots of food with families and friends. They always spent the day at Rossi's, his was the only place large enough for all of them to get together.

"Are you coming over Kitten?" Rossi asks her as they all gathered in the bullpen.

"Of course, it's a family thing isn't is?"

"What about agent Gibbs?" Reid asks.

"His team caught a case last night. I haven't talked to him today. Catching the criminals comes first." No one could argue with that, they all felt the same way.

Going out to the parking lot she has to smile as she see Gibbs leaning against her car. "I thought you had a case?"

"We did. 'the wife did it.' as DiNozzo is fond of saying."

"Gibbs." Rossi greets him as he always does.

"You're coming with us too right? Nothing much grill a few steaks and burgers, and some football. We have plenty of room and food."

"It will be fun, besides Dave has the best coffee." Penelope tells him as she leans into his personal space.

He can see the hope in her eyes having been apart for a week except for a few calls and a quick cup of coffee two mornings ago. They hadn't spent hardly enough time together.

"I'll come."

"Good, you drive I always hitch a ride with Morgan, my car hates the winter."

"You need a new car." she hears Gibbs and Rossi chorus.

* * *

He hadn't laughed that much in a long time. He understood now just why the BAU team was so good at their job they are a good group of people, that is what makes them the best kind of agents.

When Penelope offered to make the coffee and bring the dessert pastry out to the den, he stayed behind to help her. Popping some popcorn she gets out the large bowl to dump it in.

Gibbs watches as she takes two trays out putting coffee things on one and tea on the other. Just by the look on her face he knew that she wanted to tell him something.

"Before we join the others there is a couple of things that I want to tell you, here is as good a place as any." He tilts his head slightly encouraging her to continue. "You should know that I don't want to get married, nor do I want children. I don't want to move in with you either, at least not yet. But I do ask one thing of you, I know we've only been together a short time but I want to be exclusive, for as long as we are together, I like you. I like you a lot, I might even love you. I'm closing on a little house I'm buying next week, maybe you can give me a few tips on repairs."

Reid calls out to her. "Garcia come on the kick off is soon, don't forget the popcorn."

Placing the last of the needed things on the trays, she take the bowl with one of the trays on top of it. Leaving larger one for Gibbs to carry. He stands there looking as she leaves the kitchen.

"She's lying you know." Hotch tells him as he comes out of the half bathroom just off of the kitchen. "She's been hurt before and is leery about letting anyone hurt her again. I haven't seen her this happy in a very long time. She smiles more and the darkness that we all have to deal with isn't as daunting as it was before you came into her life."

Gibbs knows better than to glare, so he sips his coffee and waits. "Because of what happened to her we take care of her in our own way. We ran your complete history, no stone left unturned. She doesn't know all of your past just some of it. We sanitized it so to speak. She knows about Shannon and Kelly that is why she told you what she did. She asked me 'How can I love a man that is in love with a ghost from his past.' I told her one day at a time. Slowly let him into your heart, just show him your in for the long haul. So Gibbs are you in it for the long haul with her. Because if you aren't then …"

"Fish and cut bait. My Kitten has been hurt enough to last a life time." Rossi finishes as he walks in silently behind him.

Gibbs understands what is being said to him with the unspoken words. He has to admit that he is grateful for the way they are protecting her it says a lot about them.

Penelope runs in carrying an empty tray. "I've seen that look before, I'll have you know I didn't do it. I've been very good and only hacked three times this week. We need another pot of coffee." Getting a smile she starts the coffee maker before quickly leaving, bosses tended to talk about messy things. Things she didn't want to listen to on her day off.

* * *

Later that night in her comfortable home he holds her close enjoying the warmth from their combined bodies. "Thanks for coming today." she tells hims softly.

"I had a good time. Your team is one of the best in the alphabets, I can see why now."

"Mmm." she says as her fingers play with the hairs on his chest.

"Pen, tell me about this house? Have you signed papers yet?"

"No I haven't signed yet, why?"

"Did you get it inspected by someone unbiased."

"Yes, I had a Seabee look at it he flips houses, like Morgan. I work in a Marine base after all."

Liking the answer, he turns quickly so that he is looking down into her eyes. " I like you too very much, I might even love you too." he whispers before he lowers his head to capture her lips with his own.


	7. Chapter 7

_Sorry about the delay, I do promise that I will not let this or any stories of mine die a slow death in the vast caves of the forgotten fan fiction._

Winter was never ending, and it was a bad time to be moving into a new house. But move she did, there weren't a lot of things that she was taking with her. A new start she told him, something that she needed.

Between Gibbs and the men of the BAU they even managed to talk her into buying a new car, well a secondhand one. With the trade in for her classic Cadillac she was given a fantastic deal; the payments with minuscule considering the price of some cars on the market. One that was safer and had a working heater the best past being it wouldn't give them ulcers worrying about her getting home.

February brought its own problems rain and mud and a round of colds and flu that hit NCIS hard, especially for DiNozzo. He spent a week at the hospital with Gibbs hardly leaving his side. Penelope came at least once a day bringing food, coffee, and clean clothes for Gibbs. He would shower in Tony's room while Penelope sat and read to Tony. She even brought him a game to help pass the time on a laptop. One that you had to solve the murder by following the clues and talking to witnesses. It hadn't taken her long to program the game into the laptop, as for solving the crime, well if he did solve it, all the better. All the crimes in the program were from the cold case files from the sister agencies. It was a win, win if he solved the crime then the criminal would be arrested. If not well it kept him busy and made him use his brain.

By the end of March Tony was back on his feet, as were the criminals. Warmer temperatures and the crime rates start to climb. Hearing Shepard call him from the mezzanine, Gibbs nodded his head then climbed the stairs to her private offices. "Can I help you Director?"

"You and your team are going to the BAU, inter-agency co-operation. They caught a case, serial murders, eight murders in the last five days, it looks like a spree. The killer crossed state lines, it's their case. You are being called in because the last two were found just an hour ago both marines who just finished basic training. Don't be a bastard this time Jethro they were nice enough to invite us in, they want to solve this case for the families, as do we. Co-lead you and agent Hotchner. Ducky will be sent the Marine bodies, when he is done he will be given complete access to the M.E. reports from the other cases. Abby will be receiving the evidence from the scene; she will also be given access to the other reports."

"Not a problem Jenny, they are a good team." He leaves without saying another word.

Half way down the stairs he bellows his usual. "Grab your gear. Take your laptop, McGee. I'll meet you by the car in five minutes."

Meeting his team in the garage he slid behind the driver's seat. "Where are we going Boss" McGee asks from the back seat.

"Quantico, BAU has a serial and the last two victims are ours. Co-lead this crossed state lines. Ducky and Abby will be joining us when they have finished with the evidence and the bodies. Just so you know everyone there outranks you McGee and especially you David. Don't be argumentative and rude we need to solve this case before the killer strikes again.

Ziva not liking it at all asks. "What about Tony?"

"DiNozzo has the same rank and security clearance as everyone there except for the unit chief, SSA Hotchner.

* * *

It didn't take them long to clear security as they we expected, taking the elevator up to the right floor they were met by JJ. "I'm Agent Jareau, everyone calls me JJ. If you'll follow me I bring you to the briefing room."

They followed her until they were in a large sized room with a large table and chairs, a plasma screen on the wall with a few windows looking down into the large bullpen. The NCIS team could see the agents there working, no one seemed to be idle. They were soon joined by a five other members of the BAU's finest.

"Thanks for coming so quickly." Hotch tells them.

It didn't take long to introduce everyone, or get settled around the table. "Let's get started."

The sound of rapid footfalls coming closer stopped Hotch before he could say anything else. McGee and Ziva looked at the agents but were unable to read anything from their blank expression. When a woman walks in wearing a dress covered in geometric designs in a multitude of colors, paired with a white crop sweater. On her feet were three inch open toed bright green heels and a red flower holding her hair in place. Her make-up was done to a tee, down to her bright red lips and her glasses frames a perfect match to her shoes.

"Sorry I'm late we had a paper jam. I brought you copies of the latest information that I was able to get for you." She handed McGee a flash drive then passes out files to everyone else. "Standard commands to use the plasma, agent McGee, all the crime scene photos are here included the latest ones are here. I remotely programmed my direct line into your NCIS cells. If you need me I'll be in my office digging. Two pots of fresh coffee are in the kitchenette." Turning she left with a shiver as McGee put the first picture on the screen.

Ziva did a double take looking at Garcia, try as she might she couldn't school her features fast enough for the profilers not to notice her displeasure. "I am surprised that you do not enforce a dress code for your support staff she looks like a small child's scribble or is she a harlequin, for comic relief.

Rossi stands and clears his throat. "We find it counterproductive to make our agents or support staff as you call her to conform to ridiculous codes when we are in the office, we would rather not have them become mindless, emotionless lemmings. As for Penelope she is the best analyst you could ever want working with you. I'm going for coffee before we started, Gibbs, you need a refill?"

Gibbs sends Rossi his signature smirk before standing up. "I always need a refill."

The profiler were surprised to say the least as Gibbs walked by Officer Davis he slapped the back or her head. "Knock it off David. Get to work." Walking out the door he calls over his shoulder. "DiNozzo come make their coffee."


	8. Chapter 8

Three hours looking through all of the reports and witness statements that they were able to obtain, you would think that they would be able to find some sort of lead or connection.

Hearing his cell ring Gibbs answers it in his usual bark. "Gibbs."

"Gibbs we're here, they won't let us come to you."

"Hold on Abby help is on the way." He tells her then closes his cell.

He looks at Hotch. "Abby and Ducky need some help clearing security."

Derek stands quickly. "I'll go; I need to stretch my legs."

Ducky and Abby didn't waste any time as they gave their reports. Precise and to the point, little if any evidence nothing to help in anyway as far as Abby could tell. As for Ducky, direct and thorough as always, blitz attack on all of the victims. He finished with "Killing for the thrill of it. I'm sorry to say, but there is something there in the manner of the killings. I could be wrong though."

Abby looked around the room frowning slightly as she only sees two laptops one being in front of McGee the other in front of JJ. All she can think is she needs one too, how else is she going to help.

"We are waiting for Garcia to get the CCTV data." Emily explains to them.

Ziva huffs in response, "We are wasting time, McGee can hack and get the information quicker, than we can finish this case and go back to where we belong." She looks at her team mate with just enough heat in her eyes to convey her meaning.

"That's not a good idea Officer David, as this has crossed state lines we must follow the federal laws as well as the military regulations for the two marines. Unless of course; I'm mistaken and hacking is allowed to obtain evidence in your agency." Reid tells her knowing full well that he might as well be talking to a wall. As the tapping of keys on a laptop can be heard coming from McGee.

"It's not and she knows this, knock it off both of you." Gibbs adds as he scowls at her.

Rossi can't help but soften his features seeing Penelope entered the room carrying a laptop and a small stack of files. "Any news for us Kitten?"

She smiles at Rossi before looking at JJ. "Do you mind if I use this laptop?"

"Not in the least, this is your domain after all."

Hotch controlled his tone of voice so there was no hint of anger or frustration in it at all. It wasn't her that he was frustrated with it is the liaison of the NCIS team. "Garcia, did your contact say why it's taking so long to give you the recordings?"

"Hackers, they have been fighting some hackers off and on for a while. They have a new program that will destroy the hard-drive of anyone that hacks them but not any system that the hacker is connected to."

McGee sucks in a big breath of air. "That must be a very expensive program to be able to pinpoint one hard-drive and not anything else. Did they say were the program came from."

"Caleb said it was a gift." She answered dismissively, before continuing. "I gave him the addresses of the other crime scenes; he'll get what we need. He said to give him thirty minutes, maybe a little longer. In the meantime, Tony can you sign these please so the cases can be closed at least on our end." She tells them.

"More?" he asks smiling as she hands him the small stack.

"More what?" McGee asks.

"He helped solve some cold cases, when he was in the hospital he just needs off sign off on them." Gibbs answers. "How many does that make now?"

"Ten." Penelope answers him then starts to type pointing to the plasma. "I'll show you what we have, Caleb cleaned it up as much as possible; but the cameras are not the best and the lighting is horrible, but everything is there for this attack. All in black and white thank God. I'll run everything trough my programs see if I can get a few picture to make a composite of the unsub. I'll need twenty minutes; in the meantime you can watch the rest of them as they are sent. I ran their names; I've found nothing in common, yet. I'll keep checking. But you all can look over their bio's. Dr. Mallard and Abby if you follow me I'll show you where the kitchenette is located. There is a couple of cans of red bull for you Abby I'm sorry no Caf-pow here."

"Why don't you stay here and work? It would be more prolific wouldn't it? "Ziva asks.

"Productive." Tim and Tony say at the same time.

Before she can respond Emily stands picks up the extra laptop to hands to Abby then looks at Ziva. "Her office has all of the equipment she needs, plus we are not the only team that she works with."

"Works _for_ you mean." Ziva says.

"Works **with,** Officer David **;** the entire unit broken is down to smaller teams, she works with them all. She does other work for the Director as well." Morgan informs her. Then he gives his full attention to the plasma when JJ transfers the information.

"If you'll follow me please, I need to start on this if I'm going to be of any help to you at all."

After showing Ducky and Abby where everything can be found she points to where the loo is located. Taking bottle of water she leaves them to continue on their own. Ducky sighs with pleasure seeing the tea pot and tin of breakfast tea on the counter. "Oh, how wonderful."

As Caleb sends the videos to Penelope, she forwards them to JJ after she rips what she needs.

Hearing his cell ring Hotch frowned then put the cell on speaker. "What is it Garcia? You're on speaker."

"There are two unsubs, I have a partial face on one of them. Running it now through my babies, still working on the other ones face."

"Keep us informed."

"Yes sir." is the simple reply. Hotch just looks at the rest of the team, they know what she is doing.

"Don't you guys have a new program that fills in partial faces? From what I heard it's supposed to be extremely accurate." Abby asks.

"That's the one she is using, and you're right it is an excellent program it has help us before." Reid answers.

McGee exhales softly. "I tried to get a copy of it, but it's not on the market not even for inter-agency use."

"That's because it still has a few bugs in it and our Kitten won't sign off on it."

"That Harlequin!? She wrote a program that advanced?"

A smiling Emily can't help but boast. "She is the best for a reason."

Gibbs looks at Ziva. "I wouldn't worry about Penelope and her work she knows what she is doing."

"She can't possibly be that good, if she was that good with why isn't she working for the Homeland or the NSA? They always take the best just like Mossad. You are just saying those things because you are sleeping with her." She states defiantly.

Before anyone can respond a security guard knocked on the open door. "Agent Hotchner, I brought lunch; enough for all of you. A wide variety of sandwiches, wraps, and salads from the deli down the street. The receipt earmarks one small beef vegetable soup for Dr. Mallard."

Hoping to stop the tension in the room, Ducky smiles. "How kind I was starting to feel a bit peckish. I'm sure after we've eaten we'll be able to make further headway."

Reid stands and takes some of the bags of food from the guard after unpacking them he reaches for one of the large sandwiches and a salad. "Dr. Mallard is right we need to stop, by the time we finish Garcia will have made some progress."

Morgan can't help but grin as he takes the same things. "You going to eat all that pretty boy?"

"I'm hungry." Spencer replies as he unwraps the sandwich.

Morgan hands Dr. Mallard his soup and a small turkey wrap that has his name on it.

"Thank you very much Agent Morgan."

"Dr. Mallard please call me Derek or Morgan, which ever you like."

"Then you must all call me Ducky most everyone does. My this soup does look appetizing."

"I would like to wash my hands and use the restroom, Ziva you need to go?" Abby asks.

Ziva stand slowly, the agents can see that she is perturbed that her concerns are being brushed aside. "Yes I will go with you."

Ziva waits until they are in the restroom before she unleashes her anger. "I do not like the way they work. Gibbs should be in charge, he gives orders and we do the work. Here everything is done one piece of information at a time. McGee should have been allowed to hack and get the CCTV we would have been done with this case by now if he had. I do not trust that woman."

"Penelope? She seems nice enough. Gibbs likes her that should count for something. Remember they are profilers they just work their cases differently than we do. I'm starving and wish I had a Caf-pow."

Leaving the rest room Ziva see a light and a strong humming sound coming from an office not far down the corridor seeing the door is ajar she goes to see what is making all the noise, making sure she drags Abby with her."

Ziva pushes the door open with the toe of her boot, both women stand there just staring at what they are seeing. An 'L' shaped desk with eight monitors all on with feed scrolling on them. On the wall four more three with some sort of information scrolling through leaving one with the news playing, the only noise in the room is from the computer towers and the chair wheels as Garcia moves from one monitor to another.

Observing silently Ziva tilts her head and watches Penelope, she turns her head and sees a looks of astonishment come across Abby's face. "Holy Cow is all this yours?" Abby asks in admiration walking further into the office.

The way Garcia stands and turns around so fast with a large stapler in her hand getting ready to throw, makes Abby take a step back only to make Ziva snicker and stand next to Abby defiantly.

"You won't hurt us if you throw that, but if you do I promise you that you will be the one being hurt."

Penelope half turns and pushes a button underneath the desk making everything go black. "Leave my office now." She tells them calmly putting the stapler down.

Ziva grins. "Come on Abby she is no one special."

Penelope counts to ten, picks up new composite from the printer as well as the memory stick for the plasma. Making sure the door is locked before she goes to meet the rest of the combined team.

It's her body language that gives her away to her own team, the profilers that they are. She hands the stick to JJ and the papers to Reid. "Garcia?" Hotch asks without any preamble.

They all watch and wait as she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "Agent Gibbs," she starts then turns to look at the man. "Please instruct members of you team to stay out of my office. I will not risk my security level or my livelihood because they are going to places they have neither the right nor the security to be."

"I will not apologize, I do not like secrets they cause problems. I saw no harm in seeing just what makes her so special. A trained high school student can do what she does, I do not understand why McGee cannot do what he does best. I'm sure you will all agree with me that she is not needed when we have the best in McGee."

"I'll be in my office if you need me." Taking a sandwich she leaves without even looking back.

Gibbs grunts and glares at Ziva and Abby. Only to have his temper held in check by Rossi's chuckle. "If I may, we do have an unsub to catch. You can deal with your children later in your own home. The less we know the better."

They finished their lunch in relative silence each lost in their own thoughts. It's the ringing of Hotch's cell the breaks the tension in the room.

He listens for a minute before he gives his orders. "Send us the address, tell the locals that it's our case that we will be bringing our own M.E. that is familiar with the unsub."

He closes his cell then looks up. "We have four more victims in Maryland."

A/N: so sorry for the delay. I have been fighting with this chapter. Already working on the next one.


	9. Chapter 9

_Just a small reminder someone else owns the right to these characters, I just play with them. Thank you very much for all of the reviews and alerts._

The NCIS team gathered all of the possible evidence that surrounded the crime area. Each doing what was needed; McGee shooting, Ziva bagging and tagging, leaving DiNozzo to the sketching. The BAU with Gibbs observing analyzed the scene as well as trying to talk to anyone nearby that might have seen something, anything at all. The bosses knew that Garcia would have by now gotten a hold of all the CCTV as possible even if she had to hack to do it. They had a fresh crime scene and there was no need to waste time.

Palmer came with the NCIS truck to get the bodies to bring back to the NCIS morgue. Having worked out between the two teams it would be better to keep as much as control over the evidence and bodies as possible

It was just past nine P.M. when they were finished, they were all ordered to be back at the BAU at eight sharp. Not wanting to argue as they were all tired they left with orders to pick up a Caf-pow for Abby so she could get started sifting through everything that they had collected.

Once she received all the boxes and two large Caf-pow Abby was happy to be able to do something. Happy to have fresh evidence to go through and hoping to be able to solve this case so things could go back to normal. It wasn't that she didn't like the BAU agents they just worked differently than she was used to.

Once she was all alone in her office she called Penelope, she has felt guilty since they left the FBI building. Garcia answered after the first ring.

"How can I help Abby?"

She is not the least surprised at hearing her call answered that way. She smiled to herself before she says anything. "I'm sorry to be bothering you; I know you're more than likely neck deep in research. I wanted to apologize for this afternoon, well my part of it really. No one apologizes for Ziva she get angry if you do. I didn't meant to snoop I was just curious as to what your system looked like, that's all. I hope you will forgive me."

"Thanks Abby it means a lot to me that you did, you're forgiven. I don't know what kind of security clearance you have and I don't want to get into trouble for having a breach."

"I understand, really I do. Just one question do you really use all of those monitors and at the same time? Is your feed really that fast?"

"That's two questions, and yes to both questions I use everything at once and the feed was at its normal speed for me."

She whispers softly in awe. "You're better than Timmy."

Penelope doesn't say anything about being better than McGee, she can only thing to herself if Abby and McGee only knew. "I've got to get back I'm getting some CCTV I need to analyze. If you need me, just call Abby."

"I will Penelope, and thanks for not be angry with me. Bye." She closes the call then lets out a breath of air before she opens the first box.

Penelope worked steadily through the night running on lots of tea and cheap food from the cafeteria machines. Before she can even start on a new batch of reaches her desk phone rings she answers it in her "professional manner" "T.A. Garcia how may I help you?"

"Penelope? It Steve your favorite homicide detective." A smile comes to her face hearing his voice.

"Steve my love, how are you and that gorgeous partner of yours?"

"Tucker is spoiled rotten thanks to you and that toy you knitted for him. He's retired now protect my kids mostly."

"I'm so glad you got to keep him."

"Me too, I called to ask a favor?"

"What do you need?"

It didn't take long to get the information to Steve in fact it was a piece of cake. "If there is anything I can do for you let me know huh, we all owe you for all the cutting of red tape you do for us."

"There is one thing, I need a favor."

Laughing at hearing the request telling her it was on the house. "No worries it will be fun on our part."

It was just past three in the morning before she managed to shut the computer system down, between finally getting the composite finished on the two unsubs. The only connection she found so far was a rewards card form a local market, but she had one too so did thousands of other people. One thing could be said about Penelope was that she was tenacious; so there was no way she was going to give up not yet at least. She managed to put a small dent in the never ending requests that always found their way to her in-box.

The most exciting thing was tracking the whereabouts of an adult with dementia that wondered off. A new chip that she was working on with a local company was going to help; the chips were sewn into clothing of the patient. It just needed to be activated, the pin pointed out where the adult was and they were ecstatic that it worked, this time. They knew that they were still in the preliminary stages but it was a good start.

A nap is the only thing on her mind and she knew just the place to get one, a certain agent Rossi has a comfortable couch in his office along with a soft blanket that he had stashed a drawer just for her.

Just after eight in the morning, Gibbs walks into the BAU holding two cups of coffee. He frowned slightly seeing only a few agents in the large room. He does see a light coming from the office belonging to Aaron Hotchner.

He knocked on the ajar door then entered the office seeing Rossi sitting in a seat across the desk from Hotchner.

"Gibbs." Rossi says in greetings. While Hotch just looked up and nodded slightly.

"Morning, I checked in with Abby she said that she will be here to make her report by nine-thirty."

"That's fine, we are just going over the information that Penelope got for us; not much I'm sorry to say. She did manage to get us a composite of both unsubs, though it still needs work as it is pieced together from parts. It does give us a rough idea of who we are looking for. It's good enough for an I.D. kit we can start to canvas." Hotch tells him.

"Where is she anyway? I saw her car in the parking lot and it was cold."

Both of the BAU agents chuckled at hearing that, for they had done the same thing seeing her car already in the lot. "She was sleeping in my office, according to the agents that worked last night she walked out of her office just past three this morning dressed in sweats caring a small pillow. She snuck out about ten minutes ago and she'll be ready just like everyone else to work at nine."

Tony and Tim walked into the BAU bullpen a little after eight carrying two trays of coffee and a box of Danish pastry. Working with Gibbs as long as they had they knew it was prudent to be early instead of late. "Ducky is right behind us, some of the suits are swooning over his Morgan." Tony tells them with a smile.

Seeing Penelope walk in the room quietly he can't help but smile, out of everyone in the team she holds a special place in his heart. "Kitten," Rossi says softly as she enters the room. "Did you sleep well?"

"I did thanks, a nice soft blanket and a comfortable couch always makes me sleep." She answers then takes her own cup of coffee after she puts down her own laptop and reports. Sitting down next to Gibbs she moves enough so that her leg touches his. Her being professional only goes so far, she needed to feel him and this was as good as it was going to get until the case is over.

Gibbs was not a happy man, Abby was in the middle of her report when Ziva came barging into the briefing, swearing in Hebrew and her body language screamed anger. The agents stopped working as she continued to mutter as she sat down next to Abby.

"You eat with that mouth? I would think you should wash it out after the filth that just came out of it." Emily responds in the same language her then takes sip of her coffee.

Ziva narrows her eyes then swears at her in Arabic. "I don't bend that way. I'm just not as flexible as I once was." Is what Emily says returning the verbal volley before she smiles.

Gibbs glares at her. "Why are you late, and what has you so angry. We have work to do and you are wasting time."

"Look at these." She answers then reaches into her pocket to pull out a handful of papers, then tosses them on the table. "Some nosey cop that has no right stopped me last night and this morning another one stopped while I was driving. They gave me tickets then detained me until they could verify who I am."

"What are the tickets for?" McGee asks.

"Foolishness, I am a good driver."

Derek reached over picking up the stack of papers. Going through them one by one he whistles softly then shakes his head. "There is over a grand in tickets here. What did you do to make the officer so angry?"

Ziva crossed her arms and glared at Derek. "I told him that he should be chasing real criminals and to leave me alone, I am Mossad and a liaison to NCIS that I have work to do."

"Lots of point on your insurance for these tickets, I'm glad I'm not you." Derek replied placing the tickets back on the table.

"Gibbs, can't you fix these make them go away and punish the cops for being stupid for not knowing who we are?"

"No, you broke the law you deal with it. Go to court and fight them if you want to. If you lose the case they will make you pay court costs as well."

"I don't understand, I've never been stopped before."

Reid tells her "There is always a first time. They could and still can have revoked your license to drive and make you go to driving school. I'd be careful if I were you. Don't drive like you do in Israel."

"Abby, finish will you. Then Ducky can tell us what he found." Gibbs orders.

No one seemed to notice when his hand disappeared under the table nor did they say anything when Penelope smiled when he stroked her thigh. Two could play the game as well as one. He thinks to himself as his hand moved further up her thigh.


	10. Chapter 10

_Sorry for the delay, no excuses. Every time I sat sown to write the 'blahs' came over me._

The two teams sat and listened as Abby then Ducky brought them up to date with their finding from the latest crime scene. It was unusual for the BAU team to have access to a doctor of Ducky's caliber give them such an in depth report. On the other hand Abby's report as concise as it is, isn't as helpful as they had hoped.

"I'm sorry, I really am. I went over everything twice. There just wasn't anything worthwhile to process. Nothing that would be of any help at least," Abby by tells them all then she sighs softly.

"Just like the last crime scenes then." Tim ponders.

Hotch scans the people at the table before he settles his eyes on Penelope. "Garcia, what did you find?"

"Nothing of any use, I put all of the victims' names through all of my data bases. The only thing that came up is a rewards card for the same store. But,"

Ziva stands holding her cup tightly in her hand. "I told you we should have let McGee do the computer work. I'm certain that he would have found something. Instead she has lost us valuable time." She spits out as she tosses her empty cup in the nearby trash can.

Garcia looks at Hotch with a blank expression on her face, but a look in her eyes he knows all too well. "I'd like to continue please."

"Go on Kitten what did you find for us." Rossi tells her as he sits forward in his seat.

"As you know I was here very late last night. I was going through all of the videos that we have. I almost missed it because it happened so fast." She tells them as she types on her laptop sending the information to the plasma on the wall.

The video plays for the agents, she doesn't say anything just letting them watch the crime. "This is foolishness there is nothing there, just a stabbing, a blitz attack. There is nothing to see."

Gibbs looks over at Ziva and glares. "Knock it off. Just because your bad driving caused you problems don't take it out on the rest of us."

"Come on Baby-girl, don't tease."

"Pay attention to the unsubs' hand. He touches the underside of the arm of the side view mirror with just his pinkie. It was just after two-thirty in the morning when I saw it, I called in a favor. Talked to one of my favorite detectives and told him exactly what I wanted. I would have called you Abby but it was very late and I knew that you had already left your labs."

Playing the video again, the teams can see why it was missed the first time they watched the CCTV video. "I talked to Mike ten minutes before we started he said he would call me, to give him twenty."

"Did he have any trouble getting the print?" Emily asks.

"Not that i know of, I just owe two favors now. One for Mike and one for Ken, the CSI where the car is being held in the impound lot."

Everyone looks at Gibbs then at Rossi seeing both of them smile and shake their heads slightly. "What not? By the end of the month I'll be I the black again and they will be owing me."

"Garcia?"

"Yes, Dr. Reid. Before you ask I went through the other videos. There was nothing there, I think he is playing with us."

She can't help but smile when her cell rings. "Good morning Mike, I'm going to put you on speaker I've got team here waiting for your results."

"The composite you made is an exact match. Two-bit criminal, petty crimes in and out of prison most of his adult life. His last stay he was beaten severely made friends with the wrong people, head trauma. According to the prison reports his behavior changed he would have violent outbursts at slightest provocation other times he would be mild would follow orders and be the ideal inmates." the agents can hear the rustling of some paper. "Perps name is Justin Marks, there is another male in the hotel room, he matches your composite perfectly; there is nothing on him at all in our system. We caught a break and a big one for you guys, one of our undercover detectives was with me when I was pulling the file, he passed the information on to the rest of his unit."

"How does this help detective ?" JJ asks.

Mike can't help but laugh. "You're going to love it. A couple of our undercover guys doing their thing near the hotel, gangs and drugs. They were hanging out in front of the Bodega, spotted them. They will keep watch until you get there. You won't have any trouble identifying them Morgan and DiNozzo play ball with them. "

"Thanks, did you happen to. . ."

"I sent the address and the mug shot we have on file before the beating he got in prison to your email. They never took and exit picture, a big mistake on the guards part. Gotta go we just caught a double." He closes the call before anything else can be said.

A smiling Garcia closed her cell before gathering her things, she stops and looks at Ziva. "Not bad for a courtesan; or is it a Harlequin?"

While the younger agents chuckled softly at Garcia's comments, Gibbs and Hotch were ever so grateful that they were able to hide their reaction; practice from having to deal with criminals and agents alike.

Rossi on the other hand didn't give a damn what anyone thought about him. "Great work Kitten."

"Abby you and Ducky go back to the office I'm sure you both have work and reports to do."

"Gibbs are you going to say something? She shouldn't be talking to me like that, she isn't an agent only a tech. I deserve more respect than she is showing me. I demand that she be punished, suspended at least."

"What did you expect Ziva? Garcia is a member of the BAU and works with the best profilers in the world. Maybe you need a refresher class; seems like your Mossad training is lacking in reading people. Another thing respect is earned, you haven't earned it as far as I can see."

The bosses wait until Garcia is gone before they make any plans to the arrests. "Morgan and DiNozzo you pair up, meet up with your friends get a feel for the place." Hotch orders.

"McGee you go with Prentiss and JJ. Make sure you follow their lead."

"Yes Boss."

"I'm going to Garcia's office. I'll feed you information. I bet she has already tapped into any and all CCTV in the area." Reid tells them before he leaves the office.

"I do not understand why I could not go with Tony to meet the undercover LEOs." Ziva protests from the back seat of the FBI's SUV.

Dave shifts in his seat next to her so he can look at her. "Tony and Derek have been playing ball with a group of undercover LEOs and agents for years. They have developed a good working reputation and they trust each other. They can signal to convey a move without having to talk to one another it takes time to build that kind of trust. Having you involved would disrupt their game play."

Not liking being left out of the action she schools her features. "Did you know about this group that Tony plays ball with, Gibbs."

"Yeah, some of them have come over for steak too."

"I will tell Tony to let me join and play."

"You don't meet the criteria, Officer David." Hotch tells her looking at her with the rear view mirror.

"Ha, I'm sure I can beat any of them in any game they choose. I have been well trained by Mossad, being a woman should not count against me."

Hotch doesn't even bother to look at her as he responds "You have to be at least six feet tall. Some of the woman, yes there are women players, are better than some of the men. You're just too short."

As luck would have it they were too late by the time they rest of the two teams arrived. Tony and Derek along with the two undercover LEO's had the unsubs cuffed and sitting on the sidewalk.

Tony looks at Morgan and laughs. "Your lead, I'm here as backup, you tell them."

Morgan rubs the back of his head as the bosses come closer. He smiles at Hotch then shrugs. "They tried to rob the bodega, the owner is a former DI at Parris Island. Told us he recognized DiNozzo as being NCIS and the two undercover guys he's seen out and about. He held his weapon on them we cuffed them."

It was all anticlimactic after that, prisoners to be booked and processed. Then their least favorite thing to do; reports had to be written up.

Ziva finished her report, such as it was she did nothing; same as the rest of the team. "Gibbs will we be bringing the prisoners back to NCIS to be charges there as well?"

"Nope they crossed state lines federal laws take precedence. JAG will send over a lawyer to add what ever charges are needed."

"Dumb luck." Rossi says as he pours coffee into the cups in the small kitchenette.

Thanking Rossi for the coffee. "I just wish all of our cases were lucky." Emily sighs.

"We going out for dinner and drinks?" Reid queries.

Picking up his coffee Hotch shakes his head. "Go if you want, Garcia and I can't go. She is working on something for someone else. I'm here as her legal backstop. shouldn't take her long it's just the reports that take time. "

"I don't want to know any more. Less I know the better off I am." Morgan admits. "Come on DiNozzo a quick pick up game then we can join them for dinner, seven good with all of you?"

* * *

A few days later just after eight at night Gibbs unlocks the door to a comfortable home, after locking and resetting the alarm he goes in search of the home's owner. Surprisingly he finds her in the kitchen, dressed in a very large man's shirt that is long enough to cover her bottom, cleaning her supplies after painting small Blue flowers on the kitchen cabinets.

He stands there watching her for a minute, somehow she has managed to get paint on her hair, face and well to be honest there is not a spot that doesn't have paint on it. It looks good on her makes her all the more beautiful. "Coffee or would you like a drink?"

"A drink would be great. Thanks."

She hands him his drink and smiles softly as she sips her own. It is the ringing of his cell that destroys the mood, the gentle seduction that they are playing. "You should answer it. It might be important."

He barks in his usual greeting. "Gibbs." as his mouth goes suddenly dry as she starts to unbutton the shirt that she is wearing

"Gibbs, you have to come tell these imbeciles to let me go. They have no right to hold me and impound my car. They have taken license away and shredded it in front of me."

"What did you do?" he asks as Penelope's starts on the last button'

" Nothing! They said I failed to yield then they wanted me to take blow away test, I refused."

"Nothing I can do Ziva call a cab."

"Gibbs you have to come help me."

"Goodnight Ziva." he closes the call and looks at Penelope.

"Penelope, did you have anything to do with all of the tickets and trouble Ziva is having with the LEO's with her driving?"

Smiling she looks like a very satisfied lioness after killing her prey, turning half way. "I could use a little bit of help, I know it's not snowing but a marine like you would never let a lady wash all of this paint off on her own. Would you?" she asks as she finishes turning letting the shirt drop at her feet reveling that she is completely bare as she walks toward her bedroom.

Finishing his drink he follows her stripping his clothes away as he does. The answers to his question doesn't seem to matter, not right now anyway.

The en-suite bathroom had seen better days by the time they were finished removing the paint and the explosive shower sex.

"It's a shame we don't have more snowy days, I could get used to helping you." He tells her as they are in bed.

"Snowy days or not, I will always be need your help in one way or an other right now I have this itch." She tells replies then she pulls the sheet aside, smiling she lowers her. . . .

The end.


End file.
